CARE alleges in the complaints before us today that several recent Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decisions, Lockyer v. FERC, Pub. Util. Dist. No. 1 v. FERC, and Pub. Util. Com'n of the State of Cal. v. FERC, have invalidated the Commission's market-based rate program. I think this order makes clear that is not the case. I believe that the Commission's market-based rate program is effective and, as detailed in the order, the Commission has taken a number of steps to strengthen its market-based rate program, its market oversight and enforcement capability, and its ability to impose remedies since the Western energy crisis in 2000 and 2001.

In addition, the Commission initiated a rulemaking last year in Docket No. RM04-7, which proposes to amend the Commission's regulations governing market-based rate authorizations to require: a stringent up-front analysis of whether market-based rates should be granted, the inclusion of prophylactic conditions and ongoing filing requirements in all market-based rate authorizations, and the reinforcement of the Commission's ongoing oversight of market-based rates.